Recent vandalism of 16 Goffstown Truck Center school buses and their facility in Auburn. On Friday night, the school buses, which serve Hooksett, Auburn and Candia, and the terminal were spray-painted by some vandals

Auburn vandalism

Vandals spray-paint buses in Auburn

By BENJAMIN C. KLEINUnion Leader Correspondent

AUBURN — The Goffstown Truck Center is offering a $1,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest of those responsible for spray-painting 14 school buses and a nearby building Friday night.

.The school buses, which service the Auburn, Candia and Hooksett school districts, were quickly cleaned and back in service picking children up Monday morning.

"We feel like it might flush someone out, maybe it will get someone to report whoever did it. We don't want them coming back and hitting us again, that is our concern," said terminal manager Gregg Stinson...Stinson said that in 10 years at its location in a parking lot that off King Street in an industrial/commercial park, this is the first time the terminal has been hit. Stinson said that the vandals spray-painted mostly wavy lines, and a single message that said, "I'm a Mexican."..The terminal, which is owned by Student Transportation of America, is located in a parking lot that is not fenced in.

Along with spray-painting 14 of the 30 school buses located at the terminal, the vandals also spray-painted the nearby landlord's building...To get the buses ready for school Monday morning, Stinson said it took 12 employees all weekend long to get the paint off. He said that the cost would easily number in the thousands of dollars.

"It is obviously disappointing that whoever chose to do this did so, because it's destructive, and there is a cost associated with rectifying the situation," said terminal center spokesman Doug Coupe...While making it clear that he was only speculating, Stinson said that he believes teenagers are responsible for the damage.

"We're disappointed that this occurred in this neighborhood after being here for 10 years, we hope the responsible parties will be caught. We just don't want them coming back again," Stinson said...bklein@newstote.com..